Crafting, parenting and getting my geek on.

Category Archives: quilt

…when you have two tops waiting to be sandwiched and quilted, one quilt ready for quilting, one quilt ready for binding and, the pieces for two more tops cut and ready to be pieced (one of which isn’t pictured because that would just be embarrassing).

Actually, I’m pretty sure I have at least two others in various stages of completion but I don’t know where they are am keeping them secret for a future post.

Here I am, finally breaking in the new home of Telltale Thread. I’m feeling a little sheepish that it has taken me until March to write up my first post (one that hasn’t been imported from my old blog) but I’ll shake that off and dive right in!

Things have been more than a little quiet on the crafting front. My poor craft room has been frightfully neglected the past few months. It’s been a combo of life, work and more life that has kept me away from the cutting mat and sewing machine but I think things will begin to slowly change now.

Sadly, last month saw me with very little time to get any crafting done thanks to training at my day job that ate up my flex days. I’ve been working on the planning stages of some new projects and this months I should be ready to get some things finished. I’m planning on big changes this year so the more I can work on being organized and laying groundwork now, the better.

Between buying a house, the holidays and daycare, budget concerns have been high on my list of ‘must deal with’. It’s all just a matter of balance and tweaking and figuring things out but it is spurring me to think more about my business and getting it off the ground, not just from a financial point of view but from a personal ‘doing what I love’ perspective as well. I’m happiest when I’m playing with fabric and designing and sewing. One day this will be my day job. It’s no secret that I get no joy from office work – my five year plan gets me through those long days chained to my desk.

I also find myself in a mind to make some adjustments to my personal relationships as well. There were a lot of wonderful things to come out of 2013, and I do try to keep those at the forefront of my memories. However, if last year taught me anything, it was a sometimes not so pleasant lesson in who I can count on – my true friends and dependable family. I’m not about to tell anyone to take a hike but I will definitely be careful about where I expend my energies. I feel like I need to be a little more ‘selfish’ this year, for lack of a better word, and it’s always so hard to admit that, isn’t it?

I hope you’ll stick around and see what’s in store for Telltale Thread. I’d love to have you along for the ride.

The other day I found myself in need of some more white Kona cotton (seriously – I should just break down and buy that shizz by the bolt) and batting so, The Boy, The Kid and I trekked down to one of the best stores in Victoria – Capital Iron.

Like an old time-y General Store but with new stuff!

Up on the third floor is the home decor and fabric department, which I had kind of forgotten about until I wandered in there a few months back. I had been looking for some blackout lining for curtains for The Kid’s room, and they didn’t disappoint. Since then, I’ve gone back a couple of times to restock on the aforementioned white Kona, and to pick up some laminated cotton. They have a pretty decent selection of quilting cottons, some nice big bolts of cotton and cotton/bamboo batting, and a whole bunch of home decor weight fabrics, vinyls, chalkboard cloth, etc.

Victoria has a couple of other fabric stores (which I’ll review and tell you about later) but in general, we’re pretty hurting in locally available modern or new prints. Plus, prices can be a little high. While I love the thought, and try as often as I can, to support local businesses, the selection I find and the prices (even with shipping) while shopping online are hard to beat.

BUT! The fabric gods have smiled on the quilters and crafters of Victoria! On my last trip to Capital Iron, I got some great news. There has been a lot of action going on up on the third floor – at first, I was afraid they were downsizing or phasing out the fabric department. Luckily, I was wrong and as the lovely lady who was cutting my fabric informed me, they are actually rearranging everything because their selection will be expanding! Come June they will have an even bigger range of quilting cottons, including Moda and Kaffe Fassett. Exciting! I will definitely be going back in a few weeks to see how things are coming along.

Also, and I didn’t know this until my last visit, Capital Iron has a Sew n’ Save card that you can get ($5.00 annual fee) that gives you 20% off fabrics, notions and some other items that have fallen out of my brain (excludes: sale items, drapery panels and hardware, blinds, foam and patterns). Since I was purchasing a few meters of batting and Kona, my card paid for itself in one trip. With that discount, CI is now more than competitive with online shopping, with the added bonus of not having to wait for things to come in the mail AND supporting a local business. Hooray!

P.S. Sorry to everyone who doesn’t live in, or near, Victoria (or Sidney)! Please also note, this post is in no way sponsored by Capital Iron. I just wanted to share the info and show support for one of my favourite shops in Victoria 🙂

Copyright 2013. Please do not use any images or words from my work without first asking and being granted approval. Thank you.